Nearly lost in the media frenzy over Adrian Peterson’s team-record 224-yard rushing day at Chicago was the performance of the offensive line, which played its best game of the season Sunday in the 34-31 victory over the Bears.

“Yeah, I would say that they were totally in harmony,” coach Brad Childress said.

Center Matt Birk agreed and said the good performance went beyond the offensive line.

“I don’t want to say we were in a zone,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s possible for an offensive line to be in a zone. But everyone played great – linemen, tight ends, backs and receivers.”

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell hammered home that point after the game.

“A.P. is a special talent,” he said. “He’s got great skills. But there were some great blocks being thrown by the offensive line and wide receivers. To get 50 (yard)-plus runs or 30-plus runs, the receivers are usually the ones that end up finishing those runs for you.”

The success of the running game had a trickle-down effect on the passing game, according to wide receiver Troy Williamson, who had a 60-yard touchdown catch to give the Vikings an early 7-0 lead.

“We were able to run the ball so much, it really worked out well for the play action,” Williamson said. “You’re going to have more safeties in the box with a lot of one-on-one opportunities. That’s what receivers ask for. You just have to capitalize on them.”

No deal: Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline passed with no deals by the Vikings, even though they reportedly dropped their asking price for running back Mewelde Moore from a third-round draft choice to a fourth-rounder.

Tampa Bay, which had expressed an interest in Moore, filled its running back hole by acquiring ex-Viking Michael Bennett from Kansas City.

Quote to note: Childress, on the success of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo: “Well, I think first of all it’s probably the Eastern Illinois pedigree.”

Like Romo, Childress is a graduate of the Charleston, Ill., school.

Another Romo fan: Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson went to Alabama State, but he too is an admirer of Romo.

“Going back to last year when we played them in the preseason, watching them then, he was an exciting player,” Jackson said. “He made plays. He pretty much can do it all, to be honest with you. He can run, he can throw it, he’s accurate, he can throw a good deep ball.”

Romo also can be reckless, as he was two weeks ago in a six-turnover game at Buffalo, and Jackson said he doesn’t look at the Dallas quarterback as a role model.

“I think we’re two totally different players,” he said, “so I’m not trying to compare myself to him. He’s more of a risk taker. Not saying I’m not going to take chances, but I feel we’re two totally different players.”

Peterson honored: Peterson was picked as the NFC offensive player of the week for his performance against the Bears.

He’s the first Vikings rookie to win the award since Randy Moss in 1998.

Role reversal: The Vikings’ offense bailed out their defense for a change at Chicago after the Bears tied the game with two late touchdowns. Linebacker Ben Leber said the turnaround was much appreciated.

“It was great,” he said. “It was a hard-fought game. Take away the last couple minutes of the game for us defensively, and we played a very solid game. The offense came out and put a bunch of points on the board and really just dominated the line of scrimmage, and that’s what we need.”

For the record: The Vikings are trying to win back-to-back road games for the first time since the middle of the 2005 season.

They actually won three straight that season – at the New York Giants, Green Bay and Detroit – en route to a 9-7 finish under coach Mike Tice.

The Vikings are 4-7 on the road under Childress, including a 1-2 mark this season.

Sean Jensen contributed to this report. Don Seeholzer can be reached at dseeholzer@pioneerpress.com.

Don is a veteran NFL writer who has spent the past six years working as an editor on the sports desk. Before that, he covered the Vikings for four years and the Timberwolves for one. Before coming to the Pioneer Press in 2004, he covered the Los Angeles Rams for 10 years for the Orange County Register and spent three years as a senior editor at NFL Publishing.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Sports

It was clear early on that the Gophers women’s basketball team was in for a physical game against Army. Minnesota didn’t seem to mind all the hands, elbows and hips directed its way — the Gophers play in the Big Ten, after all — and earned a 70-52 victory over the Black Knights on Thursday night at Williams Arena. “I...

Top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul will make its ninth appearance in the NCAA Division II national semifinals after defeating No. 8 American International in three sets Thursday night at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Bears (33-2), who won 25-6, 25-16, 25-13, will face No. 5 Lewis at 7:30 p.m. Friday. No. 6 Alaska-Anchorage and No. 2 Palm Beach...

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors pushed aside the Minnesota Timberwolves — again. With Toronto down 95-94 with 8:46 left, DeRozan and Lowry keyed a 17-4 Raptors run that took the game away from the youthful Timberwolves. Toronto eventually pulled out a 124-110 victory, handing Minnesota its 13th straight loss at Air Canada Centre. “We just...

Members of the Missouri Tigers volleyball team are ready to have about 5,500 people rooting against them Friday night at 7:15 p.m. when they take on Minnesota’s Golden Gophers in the first round of the NCAA volleyball Minneapolis regional. “We’ve competed against a Big Ten team (Purdue, whom 27-5 Missouri defeated to advance to the regional semifinal) and that wasn’t a...

Unafraid of introducing his players to advanced statistics, Gophers coach Richard Pitino routinely tells his squad where they stand among college basketball’s top teams in stats not included in a box score. He prints out charts that combine traditional and advanced statistics, discusses them with players at practice and has an assistant track them during games to help with adjustments....

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was optimistic punt returner Marcus Sherels will be able to play Sunday at Jacksonville, which would be a boost to a special-teams unit that struggled in several phases in last week’s loss to Dallas. Sherels has missed three of the past four games because of injury, including the previous two. Adam Thielen and Cordarrelle Patterson assumed...